Today we’d like to introduce you to Bodie Emslander.
Hi Bodie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Whenever I’m asked this question of “how did you get started?” I respond by bringing up that all kids at some point have an interest in Crayons, whether it be scribbling or eating them. I simply see myself as a kid that never really put down the Crayons – total contrast from the type of character I picture being featured in a publication – ha! But some of my earliest memories as a child involve coloring, drawing and just making things in general. This urge to create things remained pretty consistent throughout my life. It fueled the curiosity in experimenting with a variety of mediums, materials and formats as an outlet for expression. But at the end of the day, I have always had a certain fondness in the act of illustrating with pencil and paper.
From middle school to my College years, I was the art guy. Didn’t really get into much of anything else besides filling up sketchbooks. I also became OBSESSED with graffiti. Absolutely fascinated with everything about it. The act of going out and bombing, the styles of various artists, and more nerdy stuff like the manipulation to the structure of letters.
After my college years in Duluth, I went straight into the trades as a carpenter framing houses. To this day, it remains a line of work that I really enjoy and find satisfying. Starting my business in 2019, Renegade Builders LLC, I started to dabble in making T shirts and logos for fun with my business name on it. The Venn diagrams really started to overlap once I started to get serious about learning how to screen print. Furthermore, I would apply the concept of making art that features various blue collar trades, done in a way that anyone would be down to wear. I started to get the process down of artwork to printing, and posting the process online.
It wasn’t long before I started getting friends and family to create stuff for their business, hobby clubs, hunting shacks, you name it. The next pivotal moment was 2019, when a local podcast “On Tap,” reached out and had me on as a guest. As fellow creatives, we became really close. Getting more organized, our collaboration led to rolling out merch for the brand. Through word of mouth, exposure from the pod, social posts, and local T shirts in circulation, has kept the freelance projects pretty steady for that past couple of years.
My life changed forever when RaeAnna, my “high school sweetheart,” and I had our son in the fall of 2021. Total life-changing, ball of happiness milestone.
Present day, I still bang nails and continue to pick up freelance illustration, design and screen printing projects. Our podcast is still running strong, recording a couple episodes a week. In the last 5 years of doing these custom projects, I’ve been able to connect and collaborate with a lot of really cool people, businesses and groups. It’s also been pretty cool seeing the radius in clients grow from the local level, to bigger more established businesses, such as the Dead End Hayride and Running Aces Casino.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not easy at all ha! I think anybody that relates to pursuing a creative field seriously goes through the same bumps and unexpected obstacles. There’s a whole new type of pressure you undergo when applying business to the creative process. Stuff like communication with clients, pricing, and importantly not letting that pressure influence the authenticity of the art itself.
It can also feel somewhat isolating sometimes, feeling like your putting all of your focus into a field so impractical. Eventually, I found other crazy people who have similar drives and pursuits. We’re all pretty tight now.
But overall, my approach is to have fun with everything along the way. Learning new techniques and ways to create keeps you on your toes.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in communicating people’s passions, story, and personality through visual artwork and illustrations. Majority of the projects consist of things like Visual Branding, Logos, T shirt/Merch design, Graphic Design and packaging. With every project, I make it a goal have the final product conjure up the same level of passion and excitement that the client has for their field of expertise.
Another niche I found myself in is that I typically do everything with a hand-drawn approach. Something that is not too common in the industry. This is especially the case for when it comes to logos, and more professional settings. Throughout the years, I’ve learned on how to apply the custom artwork to more practical use cases for branding and promotional stuff. Even more recently, I’ve found myself taking on the role of a facilitator in getting the artwork into physical production. Kind of like a conduit working directly with manufacturers on my client’s behalf (custom packaging, personalized merch etc.).
I also like to pride myself on pushing the limits and expectations to conventional ideas of promotion. I like to think of it as Guerrilla Marketing. A fun example being the merch designs – the core concept of making artwork for a shirt that people would enjoy wearing, even pay for, all while promoting the business featured. Whether is through the use of satire to connect two contrasting themes, or flexibly adapting to various art styles to achieve a certain aesthetic, I have a blast in the process. Hands down the most fulfilling aspect of the process is making the connections and friendships along the way. I have a special admiration for fellow entrepreneurs and creative people in general. I really click with them. A very wholesome experience seeing how the thought and effort resonates with people when making something special for them. All things aside, everything I do is for that moment.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I write lefty which freaks some people out for some reason. The bigger, more common reaction from people that know of me, or are familiar with me, usually don’t know that I also run a construction business. It’s not too often that people are as open, or serious in pursuing interests that can sometime seem contrasting side by side. I enjoy seeing people with similar stories thrive within their fields of interests. I would be very stoked if people interpret any part of my story as a means of inspiration to pursue their calling.
Pricing:
- Bespoke
Contact Info:
- Website: https://80GritStudios.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodie.draws/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/80GritStudios/
- Other: [email protected]
